Improvement in running-gear for railway-cars



UNITED STATES PATENT FllGE` JOHN C'. WEAVER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN RUNNING-GEAR FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 209,093,A dated October 15, 1878 ,z application filed September 6, 1878.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. VEAVER, of the city and county of New York,in the lState of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway Running-Gear, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification. i

This invention relates, primarily, to the equipment of elevated railways, but is applicable generally to the running-gear of passenger cars or coaches for railway-trains, and also in part to streetcars. Its general objects are the reduction of noise and draft, with provision for speeding around curves with safety, and for running steadily upon straight tracks.

The first part of my said invention consists in the employment of elastic guys or guy' springs, with or without turn-buckles for adjusting the same, for ythe purpose of keeping the trucks inline with each other and in line with the body on straight portions of the track, and for steadying and directing the trucks in turning curves.

Another part of my said invention consists in the application Vof sleeves of rubber or its equivalent to said' guy-springs, so as to prevent the escape of noise from the latter.

Another part of my said invention consists in the construction of each coupling-link with a peculiar double wedge, which cooperates with the pivoted draw-heads and their guysprings to properly direct the leading truck of each car upon curves, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Figure l of the accompanying drawing is an elevation andvertical section of the floor-frame and runninggear of a railway-car illustrating this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the trucks and parts attached thereto as they appear upon a curve, lthe outlines of the parts above being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a front (or rear) view of one of the trucks, as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one of the coupling-links.

Like letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

Railway cars or coaches intended to receive this new system of runnin g-gear may be of any approved style and construction but, owing to the construction and arrangement of said running-gear, each car may have a floor-frame,

A pair of two-wheeled trucks, T T2, areA swiveled beneath said hoor-frame near its re spective ends, and between them the floorframe may bestiffened by trusses, in the ordinary manner.

The four wheels @o4 of the two trucks may be Y of any preferred pattern of sufficient strength to carry the whole weight of the car and its greatest load. Each wheel, to avoid torsion, is provided with an independent axle, a, which is mounted in sliding boxes bB at its respective ends, the boxes working in pedestals p8, securely bolted to the truck-frame, and ordinary supporting-springs s$3 are interposed between the said boxes and the truck-frame.

In the illustration semi-elliptic steel springs are employed, being connected to the truckframe at each end byvmeans of suspensionlinks and wrist-pins, with hanger-brackets hw h4, the latter drilled to receive a wrist-pin at the lower end of each bracket, and bolted to the truck-frame.

One axle per pair of wheels may, if desired, be substituted, with any preferred system of boxes and supportin g-sprin gs, no peculiar construction or arrangement of these parts being essential.

A draft-plate, d2, is securely bolted to the bottom of each truck, and'receivesapivotal bolt, b2, at the vertical axis of the truck, those of both trucks serving to unite to the trucks and to each other a pair of draw-heads, H H2, and a connecting draw-bar, O. The line of draft is thus located immediately beneath the truck-frames, and the body-frame is relieved from the strain incident to its use as the medium for drawing other cars. At the same time the motion of the respective trucks upon their vertical axes is unobstructed.

To cause the trucks to direct each other to the desired extent, a pair of diagonal bars, B2, are attached to the respective trucks by pivotal bolts b", which may work in slots in the bars, so as to permit any desired extent of lost motion.

A pair of flat disks, D D2, are bolted to the bottom of the body-frame F above the respective trucks, and the top of each truck is provided with four rollers o', upon which said disks rest, so as to distribute the weight upon the truck-frames, and to keep the trucks from rocking upon the carrying-wheels w4t without obstructing the motion of the trucks upon their vertical axes. The rollers r have been made with rubber tires, to prevent noise between them and the said disks when the trucks are turning; but this is not considered essential.

The body-frame is constructed with a backing, f2, of suitable timbers, to receive each disk, and a cushion, c2, of rubber orits equivalent, is interposed between each disk and its backing to arrest vibrations. Each disk has a central hub, which projects upward and is surrounded by a sleeve-shaped extension of the disks cushion, as shown in section in Fig. 1. Ordinary king-bolts K2 pass downward through said hubs and through the top timbers of the truck-frames, and operate in the ordinary manner, only with reduced strain, owing to the location of the draft-line in the trucks, as aforesaid.

To provide for steadying and guiding the swiveled trucks, each of them is furnished at its corners with eyebolts e, to each of which one end of a tension-sprin g, g8, is hooked or otherwise attached, said connections of each spring comprising` a turn-buckle, t8, and its ordinary appurtenances. The elastic and adjustable guys thus formed extend obliquely inward, and are attached at their inner ends in pairs to each of the draw-heads H H2, and to eyes at the ends of connecting-rods r2,

which are united by a long turn-buckle, t, be-

neath ,the center of the car, the said turnbuckle t providing for increasing or diminishing the tension of all the springs g simultaneously and with uniformity, while the turnbuckles t provide for correcting the individual sprin gs. Each draw-head. hasa pair of staplelugs, to which spring-guys are attached.

Ordinary spiral springs of steel wire or rod are used at g8, and to prevent noise emanating from them a deadening-sleeve, d", of ordinary rubber tubing or its equivalent, is applied to each spring.

To co-operate with the spring-guys which connect the draw-heads to the trucks, said draw-heads are constructed with faces in the shape of curves described from their pivots b2. Ordinary pin-and-link couplings are employed, and the links L of the said couplings are provided with double wedges w, which work between the faces of a pair of connected draw-heads, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and limit their pivotal motion in either direction without wholly preventing the same. This causes the draw-heads at the adjoining ends of two coupled cars to draw on their guys more strongly, so as to turn the front truck of the rear ear properly in entering and leaving curves. A link, L, is shown in Figs.` l and 2, and on a larger scale in Flg. 4. I

A curved track, R2 R2, is represented 1n Fig. 2, and the operation of the respective parts of the improved running-gear 1s there illustrated, so as to render any further description thereotl unnecessary.

The idea of employing only two wheels 1n each truck is known to be old, and is therefore disclaimed, in itself considered.

I am also aware that an English patent describes rubber or other non-conductor of .sound7 applied to cars, but not in the particular combinations herein specified.

Rollers on the trucks, with plates resting upon the same, and diagonal connecting-bars, in themselves considered, are also disclaimed as old.

The following is what I cla-im as new and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, namely:

l. The combination of a pair of swiveled car-trucks, two pairs of spring-guys exte ing obliquely inward from the opposite corners of said trucks, and a central connecting rod or rods uniting said guys, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The combination of a pair of swiveled car-trucks, two pairs of spring-guys extending obliquely inward from the opposlte corners of said trucks, a central connecting rod or rods uniting said guys, and a turn-buckle in each guy for correcting its spring, `substantially as herein specified.

3. The combination of a pair of swiveled car-trucks, two pairs of spring-guys extending obliquely inward 'from opposite corners of said trucks, and a central pair of connectingi rods united by a turn-buckle for adjusting all said guys simultaneously and equally, as herein set forth.

4. The combination of a pair of swiveled car-trucks, two pairs of spring-guys extending obliquely inward from. the opposite cornersot' said trucks, and united by a central connecting rod or rods, a pair ot draw-heads united to said trucks by vertical pivots, and two pairs of spring-guys extending obliquely from the outer corners of said trucks to the outer ends ot' said draw-heads, substantially as herein shown and described.

5. The combination of a pair of swiveled car-trucks and two or more pairs of springguys attached to the corners of said trucks, said guys having spiral springs with noisedeadening sleeves of rubber or its equivalent, as herein described.

6. A coupling-link having a double wedge, in combination with a pair of pivoted drawheads having curved faces, and a pair of spring-guys attached to each draw-head, sub-` stantially as herein illustrated, for uniting a pair of swiveled trucks' under adjoining cars, in the manner set forth.

7. The combination of a pair of swiveled ear-trucks, it pair of draw-heads and a oonface of the leading' draw-head, and a pair of diagonal bars uniting the two trucks, substantiadly ns herein shown and described, for guiding and steadying the latter7 in the manner specified.

JOHN C. WEAVER.

Witnesses J As. L. EWIN, IsrDoR GRAYHEAD. 

